A/N: The Grey's finale was wonderful! I love Alex and Izzie! Goodbye Rose! :D Again, a one-shot to tide me over!

Disclaimer: Everything Grey's belongs to Shonda and ABC.

Gingerbread House

--

Alex woke up, feeling for a familiar figure beside him. He got up, his body and mind heavy from the stress, and looked around as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. All he could remember was tears and kisses and Izzie... and more tears. The carelessly strewn scrubs and sweaters were now neatly piled on top of his cabinet drawer; the hospital sneakers and shoes carefully lined beside the door. Even the other side of the bed, he noticed, was perfectly arranged. He rubbed his temples, as if nursing himself from a bad hangover, as he made his way downstairs. The familiar smell of butter and vanilla greeted him as he stepped on the bottom landing. He smiled despite himself.

"Iz?" he croaked tentatively.

"Dammit!" Izzie swore, dropping the rubber spatula she'd been using to furiously mix a bowl full of sweet brown liquid. "Alex."

"Are you, uh," Alex looked around and saw the different baskets of muffins littered on the counter and the kitchen table. There were, aside from the usual blueberry and banana nut, several variations of chocolate cupcakes, triple chocolate cookies and a layer of chocolate cake. "Izzie?"

"Chocolate helps with sadness." Izzie explained, pouring the batter into a round pan. "I googled several medical journals to see if it wasn't just a marketing ploy by Hershey's or something. Apparently it can mimic the feeling of love and sex," she put the pan in the already-full oven, "since, uh," she offered him a tray of delicious looking chocolate orange cupcakes, "chocolate?"

"I have a headache," Alex complained, rubbing his forehead.

"The fruit will help," Izzie said, "but there's aspirin on the table."

Alex reached for the aspirin. He watched Izzie work as she frosted several of the cupcakes; anyone would mistake this house for a bakery. She looked so serious and concentrated, so he put the aspirin back and reached for the closest pastry. "This is good," he chewed.

"Thanks. When you fell asleep I just felt the urge to bake."

"You don't have to bake for me, you know." Alex said, leaning towards her. "I can bake too."

"Don't be ridiculous," she scolded, "that would taste awful."

Alex laughed, and Izzie thought that she'd baked enough pastries to last the house a few weeks. "You're right, though." Alex took another bite and gulped it down with a glass of milk (a glass of soy milk, chocolate milk, orange juice, apple juice, coffee and tea was beside it.) "I do feel satisfied," he winked. "Although I didn't really need the gingerbread house to make me feel that."

"You wish." Izzie rolled her eyes. They shared the calming silence as they chewed cake and stared at each other's laughing eyes, the tension almost daring them to break away.

"Thank you for last night." Alex whispered.

"I'm here if you need me, you know that, right?" Izzie said, reassuring him. Alex never spoke much about his past. All she knew was that his dad was an abusive alcoholic and that because of it, he was able to obtain a wrestling scholarship and work his way through med school. She did know that when Alex did talk, it was something important.

"I know," he answered, "but can we not tell anyone about the crying last night?"

Still, he was Alex. "I won't."

"I gotta tell you, Iz," Alex said, his mouth full of chocolate, "out of all the people in that hospital, it's with you I'd want to cry like a sissy to."

As Alex bit into his third chocolate cupcake, the icing hit his nose and left a spot. Izzie wiped it away with tissue paper gently, smiling at him as he wrinkled his nose to her touch. "Glad to hear it."

--

Please review! :D